RV Cost of Ownership

Ready to hit the open road and enjoy the freedom of traveling and seeing the sights? During the year 2020 more people than ever have either purchased an RV or on the verge of taking the plunge. It really is a lifestyle change especially if you plan to give up your home and belongings and RV full time.  Many want to escape the financial burden of maintaining a home or apartment and save "all" of that money. Realistic or maybe not?

(( Article from my book, My RV Mentor ))

How much does all of this actually cost? To tell you the truth I can’t even estimate what your expenses will be because there are so many factors that go into determining actual cost. And if I did profile my expenses and later on you realized something different, you may be very disappointed or may even have accumulated debt you had not planned for because of my examples. 

In the first few pages of the book, I identified some RV owner’s constraints where I generalized that, “for the average family, it can and probably will be expensive.” I have identified many of the expenses over and beyond the initial expense of buying your RV without quantifying how much. I talked about shopping online to save money and not to buy anything recreational vehicle related unless you know why you are buying it, and how to use it one you get it. One example is a new owner purchasing a surge protector for several hundred dollars and letting it sit in the storage compartment because they knew it was important but didn’t know how to use it or when to use it.

Just to make sure we cover as much as we can without having to dust off our crystal ball (estimates are impossible without established data), here are some typical expenses.

Annual Vehicle Registration: My tow vehicle registration is $95 in Florida. I know people in the West paying $1200 per year and up for a similar vehicle. Each state is entirely different and what one state charges cannot be used to estimate cost in a different state. 

Insurance: Motorhomes are insured much like an automobile but possibly higher liability coverage.  Trailers are usually insured in conjunction with the tow vehicle (not always). Some factors considered in determining cost of insurance include value of the RV, year, age of drivers and past driving history, credit score, state and city where the unit will be stored, and how frequently uses. Rarely will two RV owners fall under the exact same insurance profile.

RV Maintenance: After warranty maintenance labor charges can vary from $95 to $195 per hour. Those of you that can do some of your own maintenance will reduce costs significantly. Just doing your own oil change could save fifty dollars or more. Refer to the owner’s manual to better understand type and frequency of routine maintenance.

Camping Fees: The average camping fee can be anything from $20 to $140 per night depending on location and amenities. As a general rule I try to avoid anything over $40 unless it is a destination campground. You will have to find your groove and set thresholds on nightly camping expenses. Each trip will require some planning to include anticipated expenses. 

Fuel Expense: Fuel prices can jump up overnight due to severe weather or political climate at home or abroad. And the prices always come down much slower considering they come down at all. State taxes have a huge impact on the final price of fuel making some states more expensive to visit than others. An RV salesman once told me, “if gasoline goes to $5/gallon I can’t give away motorhomes.”  Again, fuel expenses should be part of your trip planning process.

Unexpected Expenses: We talked about tire and battery failure and I provided some tips on how to prevent premature failures. But the odds are, sooner or later you may have a blowout and your battery will only last so long then it will require a replacement. Trip interruption expenses include hotels, meals and transportation costs should your RV require major repairs while on a trip. Should you have insurance to cover some of these unexpected expenses? Maybe, it depends on your specific situation.

Of course, I have not even mentioned, food, entertainment, entrance fees and all that stuff that tourist do. Knick knacks, a few refrigerator magnets and I think you get the picture. It all starts to add up quickly if not managed. But I’m pretty confident all you are onboard with these types of expenses but just needed a summary of what expenses are involved with maintaining and operating your RV. 

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My RV Mentor: For the Newbie and the Experienced

What is My RV Mentor, a book, a Facebook Group, a learning method? It is all of these and more.

The book, My RV Mentor, helps New Owners transition into RV ownership with ease quickly building the readers knowledge and confidence. My RV Mentor takes the New Owner from the pre-purchase phase to the actual purchase, delivery and in to the campground. My RV Mentor provides a comprehensive guide to the recreational vehicle’s systems and components with a troubleshooting guide and detailed Q&A’s. 

As a companion to the book the author has created a Facebook Group My RV Mentor, providing a real-time lifeline for the New Owners which offers one-on-one mentorship opportunities. You can learn from hundreds of fellow campers how to feel at home in the campground and how to keep your RV in tip top shape.

The learning method is simple, take everything at your own pace as you gain knowledge from the book and confirm the learning by interacting with fellow campers. All of the complex systems and components are covered and there is plenty even for the experienced RV Owners too.

Become a part of My RV Mentor today and start the journey to becoming a Happy Camper.

My RV Mentor, the book: View on Amazon

RV Life Magazine Review of My RV Mentor. 

My RV Mentor: Join Facebook Group

Why Hassle with a Camping Generator?

For camping a generator is definitely not needed; that is unless you want to keep your batteries charged and about a dozen other things when you don't have an electrical hookup. Let me explain.

Ever tried boondocking or dry camping? This is camping without hookups; no water, no sewer and no electricity actually there probably isn't even a bath house or restroom available. This type of camping can take place in many different settings, anything from National Parks, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property, or even in someone’s driveway, pasture or farmlands. Some are free while other locations may have a camping fee additionally, there are membership-based programs such as Harvest Host and Boondockers Welcome which offer nationwide camping opportunities.

Managing your resources is essential in regard to water, electricity and wastewater disposal. Solar or generator power is necessary to keep the RV batteries charged and this is where a good generator really pays off. If in a warm climate you may want to run fans or even an air conditioner to keep cool or a furnace or space heater in the winter.

The key to any backup or alternate power situation is understanding how much electricity you will require and when you will need it. All of your 12v or DC power needs are supplied by the RV battery so all you have to do is keep the battery charged which can be a challenge. 

Allowing your battery to sit in an uncharged state will reduce its service life. When a battery is not allowed to fully charge sulfation occurs. Sulfation will cause crystals to form on the battery plates not allowing the battery to accept a complete charge thusly the battery capacity is reduced. 

The state of battery charge is displayed in this chart. The battery must be at rest and not being used when the voltage reading is taken. As a good rule to protect your battery never discharge below 60 per cent and monitor the battery voltage closely when dry camping or camping without electrical service. 

Charging the battery once in the morning and again just before bedtime should keep everything in check, battery wise, just monitor your power consumption.

A generator rated above 3300 watts is sufficient to operate typical RV air conditioners; one AC at a time only. It will also operate a microwave oven, TV, and small kitchen appliances, just estimate your power consumption and don't exceed the generator's rating.  Some like to use 2 generators hooked together such as the Honda 2200 units. These smaller generators are lighter, coming in at around 40 pounds where the 3300 watt units start at about 95 pounds and go up from there. 

Generator noise in the campground should be minimized as a courtesy to other campers. This is why is it a must to get an Inverter Generator. These generators not only run with much less noise they also produce much "cleaner" power that is better for sensitive electronics. 

The generator shown here is a Dual Fuel Inverter Generator which can operator on either gasoline or liquid propane (LP). This is the generator I have and recommend for may reasons. It is not the cheapest generator out there but one of the best. And I only use LP to fuel the generator and connect it directly to the RV's LP tanks to keep everything simple. It also prevents having to transporting extra gasoline and dealing with accidental spills and odors.

And finally, you never know when the power in the campground will go out. It has happened to me several times. This is when you can hear the muffled sounds of generators around the campground start up knowing those lucky campers still have air conditioning, heating and of course a fully charged battery.

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RV Defects Are Normal

Or so it seems from the perspective of the manufacturer and selling dealerships. If not, then why is it so common for a new owner to spend the first few months "working out the bugs?" Or in many instances, the owners themselves perform the repairs to avoid long waiting times at the service repair shop and to ensure the job is done right the first time.

Almost every high-ticket product we purchase today touts their quality, craftsmanship or product longevity except recreational vehicles. Just take a look at any automobile commercial which is chock full of references to how well they are built, detailing the over-the-top comfort level and quality of materials. You also see pretty much the same gloating for typical household appliances like refrigerators and washing machines. 

How do I know all this? In addition to owning RVs for almost 20 years I recently conducted Internet polling to learn how RV Owners felt about the quality of their RV. The results were no surprise, or at least not to me a retired process and quality engineer. But understand there are many owners across the country that are very happy with their unit which isn't quite enough because we all should be Happy Campers. 

First some numbers to study to understand the focus and target group involved witho the polling next we will look at the specific Grades owners have assigned to their RV. 

Poll Categories with Assigned Grade

I conducted two polls, one for Airstream owners and the second for all other RV brand owners. Asking these same questions, you see in the graphic to both groups. There is more information in the video below titled RV Quality Report.

Participants were asked to select the statement that best describes their feelings about the quality of their 2018 to 2021 year model RV. There were 238 Airstream respondents, 313 for all other RV brands totaling 551 responses. 

For fairness two caveats should be considered. 1) The poll was made available to over 200K RV owners as members of Facebook Groups and 2) Negative remarks are more freely shared on the Internet than positive experiences, just a fact of human nature. 

As a sign of what was to come, the first two comments were owners asking why I had not included a "No Issues to Report" category? I immediately added the category and was surprised at how many respondents actually fell in to this category.

Owner's Response Graded from A+ to F

From this set of graphics nothing really jumps out and gives quality a thumbs up or down. One indicator may be the D and F grades for All RV Brands or the 92 (37%) Airstream Owners selecting Grade A and 98 (31%) All RV Brand Owners feeling Grade A+ is their best fit.

Not convinced one way or the other yet? I'm not either so let's do a deeper dive and ask the numbers to present a different picture.

In these next charts I combined the top two grades (A+ and A) and the bottom two grades (D and F) which should represent the most satisfied and most dissatisfied customers for each group.

Top Two and Bottom Two Grades Combined

The picture comes in much better focus from this perspective, at least for me. Over 60 percent of Airstream Owners assigned Grade A or A+ showing their satisfaction quality however 2.3 percent of Airstream Owners had to "cancel trips because of major issues" or "experiencing one issues after the other and it is still broke."  

The All Brands group is reporting quite a different situation. Only 39 percent of these owners are reporting Grade A or A+ and the owners living with the lower grades is 7.3 percent of the All Brands group. 

Where do all of these defects come from and why? The price of anything is a factor of materials and the cost of doing business, simplified of course. Manufacturers as a way to control expenses, have chosen production practices based on a timeline consistent with getting products to customers as quickly as possible. Dealerships gladly accept products with known defects which provide a steady flow of warranty repair work keeping their service departments fully engaged although usually not fully staffed. The maintenance waiting game begins here.

The cost of quality has to fall on someone's plate, the question becomes who and when? The reality is that if there is any quality at all to be had it is the buyer who absorbs the expense of quality knowingly or not and will be better off for it. We don't see Quality as a line item on the invoice nor can we tell the manufacturer "Hold the Quality" on this one to reduce the price. It is what it is. 

If recreational vehicles were delivery in perfect condition with the best materials possible and a guarantee of zero failures for the life of the warranty, we would not be able to afford that RV. I’m not saying to go quietly into the night and just accept what you get, but I am saying try to be satisfied with this whole complex system of the RV Industry but hold everyone accountable.

Seeing the big picture from both the manufacture's and buyer's perspectives I think we can see that the process although troublesome is working. The manufacture ship products and the buyer finds an affordable deal. The long and short of the RV Industry is that RV defects are normal.

I hope you enjoyed this article and maybe learned something along the way. Please Follow my Blog and join the conversation on my Facebook Group "My RV Mentor,."

Thank you.

Campground Etiquette

Campers are friendly people and we all have the opportunity and obligation to carry on this tradition. We help others when needed, share out tools and knowledge when asked and enjoy a warm campfire with neighbors at the end of the day. 

1. Wave and say hello to other campers, you don’t have to stop what you are doing and hold a long conversation but just recognize them as fellow campers.

2. Give campers a chance to completely setup or break camp before engaging in conversation. Most have a routine or checklist to follow and we don’t want to be a distraction.

3. Do not walk across someone’s campsite or use it as a shortcut. Respect their space as if they own the property and you own your property (campsite). 

4. Don’t burn trash, cardboard or plastic in the fire pit, it smokes and smells. Smoke cannot be avoided and is expected but keep it natural.

5. Leave the campsite cleaner than you found it. All trash, cigarettes butts, bottle tops should be placed in the trash. Do not throw or leave trash in the fire pit for others to deal with.

6. The campsite has an authorized max number of people, don’t hold a large family reunion or party without management approval. Even with approval be considerate to other campers.

7. Loud music is never an option. If you must have outside music or television keep the volume reasonable for your immediate campsite only. Other campers will select their own music.

8. Keep bikes, toys and other obstacles out of the street, it is hard enough navigating a large RV on small access lanes so keep it clear and others will appreciate your effort. This also goes for parking in general and especially for boats, 4-wheelers and tow vehicles. 

9. Follow campground rules for pets. Don’t let dogs bark, keep them on a leash and pickup their poop. Even if your pet is well behaved or trained, this doesn’t give you the right to not use a leash.

10. Children should not wonder off and play on other campsites without permission. Hopefully the campground will provide a safe place other than the street for children to play but if they don’t ensure you monitor children closely for everyone’s safety.

11. Outside lights are usually permitted but with consideration to others. Bright lights left on overnight can and will shine into nearby campsites and may present a problem sleeping for some. Besides, it is great to see some stars when camping so keep the lights to a minimum.

12. Quiet hours are usually defined by campground management and must be observed. This means the party is over, move inside if you must and allow others to go to bed quietly. Generators are prohibited during quite hours as is any other noise making device left outside. You can run air conditioners since they are considered essential.

13. Don’t arrive later or depart early. Respect the quiet hours and try to arrive at the campground before quiet hours begin. Likewise, if departing in the early hours of the morning try to complete as much of the outside preparation as you can the night before. 

14. Respect the environment. Don’t leave food on the ground, keep your trash organized and disposed of properly, do not dump wastewater on the group and if you do smoke be conscience of where your smoke is drifting and how close your neighbors really are.

Campground Etiquette is taken from my book, My RV Mentor. The book is available on Amazon at this link:

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Fresh Water Do’s & Don’ts

Cross-contamination between fresh water (drinking water) components and the hoses and fitting used for wastewater can be a health risk. Just being aware of these concerns is half the battle of maintaining an acceptable level of sanitation. Incorporating these steps into your setup process can help to ensure you keep your fresh water fresh and safe.

• When doing the RV setup do all “clean” activities first. Fresh water hose and filter, electrical connection, jack, slides.

• Leave the “dirty” setup for last. Connect and extend the sewer hose.

• Keep a spray bottle of 9 to 1 bleach water mix. Spray the water faucet and hose ends before connecting. 

• Do not use the fresh water hose to back flush the black water holding tank. Use a different hose preferable with a different color. I have a gray colored hose for this.

• Store the fresh water components in a plastic container with lid. This includes the drinking water hose, water filter, water pressure regulator and a special hose for filling the fresh water tank.

• Sewer hoses and fitting are stored in a separate container or location.

Some RV manufactures do a much better job than others when it comes to sewer hose storage solutions. If you do not have designated sewer hose storage in either a bumper, attached to the underbelly or in a wet storage area you will have to be creative in forming your own solution. A plastic container with a sealed lid approximately 20” by 24” and 6” deep may be sufficient for a 10’ sewer hose and attachments. 

I keep a similar size plastic container for all of my fresh water hoses, filters, and water pressure regulator. This is also where I keep a spray bottle with the bleach water solution. And with all of this segregation of “clean and dirty” components it is not a perfect system. Just think about how many times your water hose was lying on the ground next to or even on top of the sewer hose. 

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 Avoid the Bombs -- Don't Go Cheap on Tires

How often do you hear about travel trailer blowouts and the actual tire brand turns out to be something you have never heard of? Many (or most) RV manufactures put these off-brand tires on new recreational vehicles; it has to be a profit margin decision because great tires are available, they just cost a little more. 

But in all fairness it takes 2 things to make a China Bomb and not just the fact the tire was made overseas.

Goodyear Marathon

1. Poorly made or engineered tires that are prone to heat failure and catastrophic failure. The Goodyear Marathon is pretty much the poster child of China Bombs but there are many other brands on the market today that you should avoid.
2. Owner Abuse. Yes, in countless number of cases it is you, the owner, that sets the stage for tire failure. The top three things that leads to blowouts are: 

• Failing to maintain correct tire pressure 
• Over speeding the tire  (check rating)
• Not replacing an old outdated tires (4-6 years)

My video below looks at all of these issues and provides recommendations on not only how to properly maintain your tires but how to keep you family safe going down the road. In addition, how to prevent tire failure which can cause thousands of dollars of damage to your RV.

Be aware that what your local tire shop recommends may be an off-brand tire or a tire he promotes just for profit reasons. As a consumer be proactive and know what tire you want "before" going in to buy tires. That way the tire dealer will agree with you or have the challenge to convince you in to buying another brand for specific reasons. Listen carefully and make an educated decision.

Once you get those great tires and know they must be replaced every 4 to 6 years you are still only half way there to being safe and money wise. Remember the comment above about "keep the correct air pressure?" Sounds easy and it really is but it takes a certain amount of dedication to check and monitor your tires.

• Each travel day check air pressure and make necessary adjustments. Each tire Brand/Make has a tire pressure chart with recommended tire pressure based on trailer weight. The maximum tire pressure indicated on the tire sidewall may not be your correct running psi. Google search your tire.

• Inspect all tires for damage, bulges or tread separation and cracks. Remember with the 4 to 6 year replacement rule your tire thread is not an indication of how much life remains in the tire. Chances are your tires will still have good thread when they are replace for old age.

• Use a Tire Pressure Monitoring System which gives you an early warning for tire failure. I highly recommend the TST-507 4-Cap System which I have been running for over 15 years.

The last thing you want is a mechanical or tire failure that interrupts your camping experience or worst yet injures someone. You can take preventative actions against tire failure and I hope this information prepares you to travel with confidence and worry free.

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